Kung Fu Panda: A Deadly Labor
by Fox MCcloud SNR
Summary: When Po and Tigress's child is born something terrible happens that will forever be burned into Po's memory.
1. Chapter 1

**Inspired by events close to home**

**Just before you begin I should say that I go a bit further then I ever have in regards to Po and Tigress's relationship, I'm just warning you if you find that stuff awkward, I don't show sex but it is strongly hinted at.**

**A Deadly Labor **

A loud cry echoed through the halls of the Jade Palace.

"WE'RE LOSING HER!" A nurse yelled in panic.

"Please come on ma'am! You just need to hold in there" begged the feline doctor. The woman giving birth had been going through the longest and most painful labor he had ever seen in the thirty years that he had been practicing medicine. She was sickly, weak and frighteningly close to death's door already. If they didn't deliver the child soon then both of them would die.

"Don't worry me! Please just save our baby!" The woman begged, the doctor looked sympathetically at her, "I'm doing all I can ma'am, you just need to give it another push ok?"

He got another shriek as a reply. The woman knew deep down that she was going to die doing this but what gave her the strength to continue was the thought of giving her child a life.

She tried to get some air as she finished the push and it had finally produced some results, the child's head was now visible but it was clear that it needed one more to be free and time was growing short. The doctor smiled to reassure the poor woman, "Okay, nearly done, we're just going to need one more and then it's finally done."

"I...I can't." The woman sobbed. That last one had taken everything she had. There was nothing she could do, she and her baby were going to die. Just as she began to give up hope the man who had been standing by her side for the past 24 hours said.

"Please, Tigress don't let our child die!"

Tigress looked up and stared into the green spheres she had fallen in love with all those years ago. Every time they bore into her she found inner solace, strength and the will to fight on no matter the odds. Those eyes constantly watched her back like an eagle and kept her safe as they progressed into one of the most legendary duos to ever learn kung fu. These were the very same eyes that she hoped with all of her heart that their child have, so that one day they could shine like their father's, however those eyes were currently above fraught with desperation, worry and powerlessness.

Tigress felt determination swell up inside of her, it was like the fire that she felt while fighting an opponent. "Okay Po...I'll try..." She panted heavily. With a final ditch effort and a blood curdling wail Tigress poured the last ounces of her life into the last push.

"Good! Keep at it! He's coming now Tigress" The doctor shouted with joy, now there was a chance of life for both her and her child. However there was still the grim possibility that one of them wouldn't make it, the newborn came slowly but surely, in a few more seconds everything would become clear to them.

Tigress was getting weaker in front of them all warning them of an imminent bodily shut-down.

Po felt her grip fading fast. The entire time he had been there holding it, the entire time he had been by her side and now she was failing. "Tigress stay with me come on! Don't do it for me, do it for _him!_"

Tigress looked up at Po again with cheeks damp with tears, "Him?" she asked.

"Yeah Tigress just like you wanted, our baby boy with your fur and my eyes. Please...just hold on!" Fighting back the tears was harder then any of the battles he had had against Shen, Tai Lung or any other of his major villains.

"Po I can't do it" she whimpered. "I love you." She said as the life in her eyes went out and she laid back on the bed peacefully.

Po's heart shattered, "Tigress? TIGRESS!" He shouted. Her paw would have fallen away if he hadn't been holding onto it so tightly. "Tigress don't give out on me please!" He begged, tears started to course down his face and onto her bed. It was a pain that pierced him deeper than when when he had found out what had happened to both his parents and his race, more then when he heard Shifu's dying breath years ago. "Tigress! Tigress!" Po shouted again.

The sheep nurse walked slowly over to the grieving Dragon Warrior and placed a sympathetic hand onto his large,broad shoulder. "Dragon Warrior. I'm sorry, but she's-" Po stopped the worst sentence of his life by slapping the sheep's hand away.

"Tigress" Po whimpered once again, his voice was now hoarse from his desperate yelling and he'd never felt lower, he put his head next to hers. He felt a terrible mix of emotions swirling around inside of him, anger for not being able to do anything and because of the un-justness of the situation, regret fro ever convincing her to bear his child when she had said it wasn't a good idea due to the both of them being different species which had never been a good combination in the past, and finally despair because the first person he had ever truly loved that strongly and the love of his life was now dead in front of him, and there was nothing in the world that he could have done to stop it, not anything int he library of kung fu techniques that he knew that could bring people back to life. Po cursed the previous masters before him because of their lack of foresight.

The doctor had managed however to rescue the child moments before her passing and the baby was now wrapped in a bright orange blanket which had been chosen by Po so it would match Tigress's fur. The baby had stopped wailing rather quickly and moved to whimpering rather suddenly.

The doctor gestured to the nurse to come over, "Put him in the nursery, have him monitored twenty four-" the doctor said but he was interrupted.

"No!" Po growled, "I want to see my child" they both hesitated at the sight of the livid Dragon Warrior, who could blame them after all the many tales of his power were not exaggerated.

The doctor nodded and the nurse handed the child over to Po. Po drew his eyes on his baby for the first time and smiled sadly, he dreaded he day when he would have to tell his newborn what had happened to Tigress. Po saw that his baby was indeed a male and and sighed heavily, it was what they hoped for.

Po held his son close to him, both he and Tigress had been looking forward to choosing a name together...No, he couldn't think of Tigress now, it hurt him too much to even see her face in his mind, Po focused on his son's features, he was the spitting image of a male Tigress, except the eyes, the eyes were Po's. Po remembered wanting to pick the name 'Stormageddon' because it sounded cool but Tigress had merely laughed and refuted it.

She looked peaceful now, almost like she was asleep which tore another gash on Po's already broken heart. He openly cringed but held back his anguish for his son's sake. Po looked at the boy and thought about a name, without hesitating he thought of one. "Lang-Hua". He said before handing his son back to the nurse so she could put him in a better environment.

The nurse left the room and the doctor chose his next words carefully, "Do you wish to be alone with her?" Po was back to hovering over her and merely nodded. The doctor then left without a word.

Her face was still so beautiful even with the tear trails down her once warm cheeks. A long time ago before any of this he had seen her face in the midst of battle and fallen for her almost instantly. From that day on he knew that she would be the light of his life and bring him up from the darkest pits that life could throw at him, now she was dead and he was alone to face those from now on as well as having to now raise his newborn son completely alone.

"Tigress, I'm so sorry" Po murmured. He blamed himself and for the rest of his life he always would, whenever he saw that face in his mind he would forever be reminded of what he had caused by suggesting children to her and what it had cost both him and the children he had wanted. He had spent so much time with her, getting to know her, her deepest fear, brightest dreams, getting to know everything about her and at times it seemed like he could read her mind.

Po let a sob escape his lips, he put his face close to Tigress's and kissed her on the lips for the very last time, those very lips had turned him into a senseless wreck the first time they had met his cheek. The panda's throat tightened and speaking became impossible. "I'll love you no matter what Tigress. I'm sure you're in a better place know, by the gods I wish I was there with you. But I'm needed here, our son needs me and he needs you to but..." his thought trailed off there as he couldn't stomach the thought of his son growing up without a mother just like he did.

Po pulled away from the kiss and wiped his moist eyes, the panda sent one last silent goodbye to his beloved. He stood up but stopped suddenly as he felt the tiniest of pulses reach his palm, it terrified Po more then anything else he had ever felt in his life. At first he thought he had imagined it but then it was followed by another, then another and another.

Po's breath caught in his throat, "T-Tigress?" He said shakily. Po started to hyperventilate, "DOCTOR GET IN HERE QUICKLY!" He yelled as loud as he could, his throat was in tatters but Po didn't care.

The old feline doctor ran back into the room as fast as his old bones could carry him, the door barely stayed on it's hinges as it was flung open, "What is it Dragon Warrior?"

Po pointed wordlessly at Tigress's wrist and the doctor immediately came over and checked for a pulse, the doctor humored Po but he knew that Po was just suffering from a grief induced delusion, he had seen it many times before when similar things had happened to other would be fathers or widows. The doctor was shocked beyond belief as he felt a faint but consistent pulse, "She's alive!" He shouted in shock.

The shock quickly wore off quickly however because the doctor shrugged off any disbelief he might of had because he refused to watch the Dragon Warrior go through the same heartache twice in the same hour. He immediately went to work to make sure that Tigress's sudden revival wasn't a spur of the moment thing and that his second chance would not be in vain.

**2 Years Later...**

Lang-Hua ran everywhere now, he was the cutest thing with his orange and black fur, expressive green eyes and the fighter's spirit that Po had decided he had got from Tigress. He had already begun to show signs of his innate fighting ability because of his agility and his stamina but Po wanted to decide at a later point whether he wanted his son to lead the same life as him.

It was Christmas in China now and already the Valley was well into the festive spirit, Po had decided to spend the Christmas with the only family he had left instead of protecting the Valley, it was selfish but his son was more important to him then the villagers also Po doubted any bad guy would have the evil to rob anyone on Christmas.

Po held his arms out and picked him up, Lang-Hua beamed at his father and hugged him back. Po smiled into his son's shoulder and thought of Tigress.

"Po, did you let him peek?" Came a female voice from the kitchen, "No I didn't, though judging by his speed if he grabbed one of his presents then it would take two kung fu masters to catch him".

"It's a good thing we are then isn't it?" Tigress said as she walked in and leaned on the door-frame, she gazed lovingly at the two people she loved most in the world. They stared into each other's eyes for a while, "It's getting late Po" said Tigress looking out the window and onto the dim Valley of Peace.

They lived in a small cottage overlooking the Valley, far enough for some well earned privacy but close enough so they could respond to any attacks. "Oh Po that reminds me, we need to get Zeng to deliver those cards to Crane, Viper, Monkey and Mantis" said Tigress, Po nodded. His friends had all moved out of the Valley and taken up residence in other locations in order to protect more of China.

"We should ask him to do it after the holidays though, it's unfair to ask him to leave his family just so he can do us a personal favor" suggested Po. Tigress nodded and smirked at him, "Ever the kind hearted one Po" she quipped, "Alright, go put him to bed and then meet me in the bedroom" Tigress said slyly.

Po began to blush, even after all these years he blushed whenever a woman was sly with him, though if it was anybody besides Tigress then they got a very fierce, jealous growl from the tiger master.

Po quickly put his son to bed not forgetting to give him a kiss on the forehead and to tuck him in. He then quietly crept into his room which was directly opposite his son's. The room had white walls and a black carpet with a orange bed sheets covering the king sized bed that was in the center of it.

Po looked around not seeing his love, "Are you in here?" Tigress stepped out into the light from the dark restroom on the right side of the bedroom. She was wearing the special gift that Po had got her for lat year's Christmas. It was a black, lacy and slightly revealing dress that wasn't shy of showing every inch of the amazing body that she had maintained to this day.

As soon as he saw her Po's tongue leaped into the back of his throat, his head began to spin, his heart beat quickened dramatically and his face went beat red. "You look errrrr..." Po's sentence crumbled.

"Even after all these years I can get you to become like an awkward teenager that can't keep from blushing" giggled Tigress.

"Well you can hardly blame me, you _are _the most amazing tigress in existence." Po quipped whilst trying to keep himself from going any redder.

"Thank you Po." Said Tigress as she sat on their bed, she patted the spot next to her, "Now why don't you join me?"

Po smiled happily, "As you wish Master Tigress." Po said closing the door behind him. Po made his way over to Tigress and kissed her deeply, he gently laid her down and then kissed her body all the way up to her lips. "I love you so much." Po said lovingly. A flash of Tigress dying a year ago flashed into his mind and he kissed Tigress passionately again just to make sure that she was indeed still alive and real.

When they broke apart Tigress pushed Po away gently and pinned him "Po it's all right, I'm here and I'm not going anywhere."

"I know, but I was so scared that you were really-"

Tigress kissed him before saying "I would never leave you Po, not after what you said. I would never leave you to raise our son by yourself. If it were up to you he would dessert for both breakfast and lunch! It would be a disaster!" She joked.

Po rolled his eyes, "It was one time! Besides it wasn't that bad"

Tigress raised an eyebrow, "He jumped around the house for two solid hours, neither of us could get him!" Po sighed, "Alright fine"

He began to worry again, "But Tigress I thought you were gone! Your heart stopped beating and the doctor said for sure that you were gone...I was certain that you had left me."

Tigress kissed him once more, "Not in a million years". She said before closing the gap between them.

**The End**

**I hope you enjoyed this and remember to REVIEW it if you did.**

****Check out my youtube channel channel/UCyOGGlO1Tuo8Od95KThn86w****


	2. What If?

**This is the way the story was originally going to turn out when I was feeling particularly vindictive.**

**A Deadly Labor - Alternate Take**

A loud cry echoed through the halls of the Jade Palace.

"WE'RE LOSING HER!" A nurse yelled in panic.

"Please come on ma'am! You just need to hold in there" begged the feline doctor. The woman giving birth had been going through the longest and most painful labor he had ever seen in the thirty years that he had been practicing medicine. She was sickly, weak and frighteningly close to death's door already. If they didn't deliver the child soon then both of them would die.

"Don't worry me! Please just save our baby!" The woman begged, the doctor looked sympathetically at her, "I'm doing all I can ma'am, you just need to give it another push ok?"

He got another shriek as a reply. The woman knew deep down that she was going to die doing this but what gave her the strength to continue was the thought of giving her child a life.

She tried to get some air as she finished the push and it had finally produced some results, the child's head was now visible but it was clear that it needed one more to be free and time was growing short. The doctor smiled to reassure the poor woman, "Okay, nearly done, we're just going to need one more and then it's finally done."

"I...I can't." The woman sobbed. That last one had taken everything she had. There was nothing she could do, she and her baby were going to die. Just as she began to give up hope the man who had been standing by her side for the past 24 hours said.

"Please, Tigress don't let our child die!"

Tigress looked up and stared into the green spheres she had fallen in love with all those years ago. Every time they bore into her she found inner solace, strength and the will to fight on no matter the odds. Those eyes constantly watched her back like an eagle and kept her safe as they progressed into one of the most legendary duos to ever learn kung fu. These were the very same eyes that she hoped with all of her heart that their child have, so that one day they could shine like their father's, however those eyes were currently above fraught with desperation, worry and powerlessness.

Tigress felt determination swell up inside of her, it was like the fire that she felt while fighting an opponent. "Okay Po...I'll try..." She panted heavily. With a final ditch effort and a blood curdling wail Tigress poured the last ounces of her life into the last push.

"Good! Keep at it! He's coming now Tigress" The doctor shouted with joy, now there was a chance of life for both her and her child. However there was still the grim possibility that one of them wouldn't make it, the newborn came slowly but surely, in a few more seconds everything would become clear to them.

Tigress was getting weaker in front of them all warning them of an imminent bodily shut-down.

Po felt her grip fading fast. The entire time he had been there holding it, the entire time he had been by her side and now she was failing. "Tigress stay with me come on! Don't do it for me, do it for _him!_"

Tigress looked up at Po again with cheeks damp with tears, "Him?" she asked.

"Yeah Tigress just like you wanted, our baby boy with your fur and my eyes. Please...just hold on!" Fighting back the tears was harder then any of the battles he had had against Shen, Tai Lung or any other of his major villains.

"Po I can't do it" she whimpered. "I love you." She said as the life in her eyes went out and she laid back on the bed peacefully.

Po's heart shattered, "Tigress? TIGRESS!" He shouted. Her paw would have fallen away if he hadn't been holding onto it so tightly. "Tigress don't give out on me please!" He begged, tears started to course down his face and onto her bed. It was a pain that pierced him deeper than when when he had found out what had happened to both his parents and his race, more then when he heard Shifu's dying breath years ago. "Tigress! Tigress!" Po shouted again.

The sheep nurse walked slowly over to the grieving Dragon Warrior and placed a sympathetic hand onto his large,broad shoulder. "Dragon Warrior. I'm sorry, but she's-" Po stopped the worst sentence of his life by slapping the sheep's hand away.

"Tigress" Po whimpered once again, his voice was now hoarse from his desperate yelling and he'd never felt lower, he put his head next to hers. He felt a terrible mix of emotions swirling around inside of him, anger for not being able to do anything and because of the un-justness of the situation, regret fro ever convincing her to bear his child when she had said it wasn't a good idea due to the both of them being different species which had never been a good combination in the past, and finally despair because the first person he had ever truly loved that strongly and the love of his life was now dead in front of him, and there was nothing in the world that he could have done to stop it, not anything int he library of kung fu techniques that he knew that could bring people back to life. Po cursed the previous masters before him because of their lack of foresight.

The doctor had managed however to rescue the child moments before her passing and the baby was now wrapped in a bright orange blanket which had been chosen by Po so it would match Tigress's fur. The baby had stopped wailing rather quickly and moved to whimpering rather suddenly.

The doctor gestured to the nurse to come over, "Put him in the nursery, have him monitored twenty four-" the doctor said but he was interrupted.

"No!" Po growled, "I want to see my child" they both hesitated at the sight of the livid Dragon Warrior, who could blame them after all the many tales of his power were not exaggerated.

The doctor nodded and the nurse handed the child over to Po. Po drew his eyes on his baby for the first time and smiled sadly, he dreaded he day when he would have to tell his newborn what had happened to Tigress. Po saw that his baby was indeed a male and and sighed heavily, it was what they hoped for.

Po held his son close to him, both he and Tigress had been looking forward to choosing a name together...No, he couldn't think of Tigress now, it hurt him too much to even see her face in his mind, Po focused on his son's features, he was the spitting image of a male Tigress, except the eyes, the eyes were Po's. Po remembered wanting to pick the name 'Stormageddon' because it sounded cool but Tigress had merely laughed and refuted it.

She looked peaceful now, almost like she was asleep which tore another gash on Po's already broken heart. He openly cringed but held back his anguish for his son's sake. Po looked at the boy and thought about a name, without hesitating he thought of one. "Lang-Hua". He said before handing his son back to the nurse so she could put him in a better environment.

The nurse left the room and the doctor chose his next words carefully, "Do you wish to be alone with her?" Po was back to hovering over her and merely nodded. The doctor then left without a word.

Her face was still so beautiful even with the tear trails down her once warm cheeks. A long time ago before any of this he had seen her face in the midst of battle and fallen for her almost instantly. From that day on he knew that she would be the light of his life and bring him up from the darkest pits that life could throw at him, now she was dead and he was alone to face those from now on as well as having to now raise his newborn son completely alone.

"Tigress, I'm so sorry" Po murmured. He blamed himself and for the rest of his life he always would, whenever he saw that face in his mind he would forever be reminded of what he had caused by suggesting children to her and what it had cost both him and the children he had wanted. He had spent so much time with her, getting to know her, her deepest fear, brightest dreams, getting to know everything about her and at times it seemed like he could read her mind.

Po let a sob escape his lips, he put his face close to Tigress's and kissed her on the lips for the very last time, those very lips had turned him into a senseless wreck the first time they had met his cheek. The panda's throat tightened and speaking became impossible. "I'll love you no matter what Tigress. I'm sure you're in a better place know, by the gods I wish I was there with you. But I'm needed here, our son needs me and he needs you to but..." his thought trailed off there as he couldn't stomach the thought of his son growing up without a mother just like he did.

Po pulled away from the kiss and wiped his moist eyes, the panda sent one last silent goodbye to his beloved.

**2 Years Later...**

Lang-Hua ran everywhere now, he was the cutest thing with his orange and black fur, expressive green eyes and the fighter's spirit that Po had decided he had got from Tigress. He had already begun to show signs of his innate fighting ability because of his agility and his stamina but Po wanted to decide at a later point whether he wanted his son to lead the same life as him.

It was Christmas in China now and already the Valley was well into the festive spirit, Po had decided to spend the Christmas with the only family he had left instead of protecting the Valley, it was selfish but his son was more important to him then the villagers also Po doubted any bad guy would have the evil to rob anyone on Christmas.

Po held his arms out and picked him up, Lang-Hua beamed at his father and hugged him back. Po smiled into his son's shoulder and thought of what Tigress would possibly say. "Po, did you let him peek?" He imagined her velvet-like voice coming from the kitchen, "No I didn't, though judging by his speed if he grabbed one of his presents then it would take two kung fu masters to catch him" He replied to his thoughts.

Po sighed and focused on hugging his son, thinking about her wouldn't improve his mood and he knew how his son loved last year's Christmas, Po didn't want to ruin this for him. They lived in a small cottage overlooking the Valley, far enough for some well earned privacy but close enough so they could respond to any attacks. "Oh that reminds me, I need to get Zeng to deliver those cards to Crane, Viper, Monkey and Mantis" said Po out loud. His friends had all moved out of the Valley and taken up residence in other locations in order to protect more of China, they had reached out to him but he had rejected them all from pain.

"We should ask him to do it after the holidays though, it's unfair to ask him to leave his family just so he can do us a personal favor" suggested Po. Lang-Hua said nothing because as an infant he couldn't understand what his father was talking about. His son yawned and Po decided to put him to bed. "C'mon kiddo, let's put you to bed after all, I wouldn't want you to see that mystical, bearded panda comes down the chimney to deliver your present" Po internally sighed, he should be more careful, he wouldn't want to ruin Lang-Hua's perception of how his presents arrived, besides they didn't even have a chimney.

Po carried his son to bed and tucked him in, Po smiled softly at his son and then went to leave, "D-Daddy" came a soft voice, Po looked over his shoulder. "What is it son?", Lang-Hua looked at him sadly, "Why are you sad?" Po flinched slightly, he had been worrying for a long time about explaining this to him, Tigress's fate wasn't a subject he wanted his son to know just yet although now it looked like he might have no choice but to tell him.

Po softly walked over and kneeled down again, "I...just...miss your mother Lang" Po said sadly, the child looked confused, "Why? Is she on vacation?" Po grit his teeth and decided...to tell him another day, he smiled at him again, "No Lang, I'll you someday...when you're ready, now get to sleep so you'll be ready for tomorrow okay?" Lang nodded, "I love you daddy" Po nodded and kissed him on the forehead, "I love you too son." With that Po left the room and walked into his own which was opposite Lang's, the room had white walls and a black carpet with a orange bed sheets covering the king sized bed that was in the center of it.

Po looked around at the space, he felt like it was ready to swallow him whole. Po felt bad at not telling Lang the truth and for being a coward for not facing his own pain, but Lang didn't need to know right now. Po yawned and laid in bed, he struggled to get comfortable and tossed about in his sleep, after an hour of this he opened his eyes and gasped in fright when he saw Tigress in front of him.

She looked so real but he _knew _she wasn't, "Tigress, y-you're not real!" The apparition in front of him wrapped her arms around him and Po felt a small sense of comfort at her being there regardless of legitimacy. Po thought about pushing her memory into the back of his mind so he wouldn't have to be pained when he thought about her, the thought of losing her again was too much however. "Not in a million years", he said before closing his eyes and feeling a tear crawl down his face, she might be dead but she would forever be there to comfort him whether she be real or not.

**The End**

**I hope you enjoyed this and remember to REVIEW it if you did.**

****Check out my youtube channel channel/UCyOGGlO1Tuo8Od95KThn86w****


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